Shopping Detective: Processed Meats Part II: Sausages
This is the second part of the processed meat post. Here is the first part covering the ingredients and additives.
Additives aside, sausages come in different casings. These can be either completely natural (sheep intestines for thin sausages or pig intestines for thicker ones) or a manmade casing from collagen. In my experience the collagen one bursts and rips during cooking and ends up in unsightly inedible dry pieces of film stuck to the sausage, while the intestines behave normally, hold stuff together and remain edible!
Now to some examples of sausages found in Swiss supermarkets. I am including a small selection most of which I would buy myself with just one not so good example for illustration purposes.
Sausages:
1. No Sugar listed! (awaiting for confirmation from Coop) Berg Bauernbratwurst mit Kräutern: Pork , bacon , salt, spices , herbs , acidity regulator ( E262 ) , acidity regulator ( E331 ) , antioxidant ( E301 , E300 ) . Sausage casing : pig intestines . Source: Coop
Pro Montagna Berg Bauernbratwurst
2. Two sugars, no MSG, but doesn’t taste very nice… Bio Schweinsbratwurst: 85% pork , bacon , cider , salt, spices , glucose syrup , dextrose , rosemary extract. Sausage casing : pig intestines . Source: Coop
Coop Naturaplan Bio Bratwurst
3. MSG listed twice in this innocent looking “snail”: Bell Schweins-Grillschnecken: 82% pork , bacon , salt, iodized , cider 1.6 % , spices , flavor enhancer ( E621), dextrose , stabilizer ( E262 ) , antioxidant ( E331 , E300 ) , yeast extract . Salt content of about 1.8 % . Sausage casing : sheep intestine. Source: Coop
Bell Schweins-Grillschnecken
4. One non-starch derived sugar and only one antioxidant but beware if you have milk related allergies Migros Bio Bratwurst ** Pork , bacon ** , water , milk ** , iodized table salt , onions ** , * spices , antioxidant: sodium citrate , sugar * , Case : pig intestines . ** For Swiss organic production . * From certified organic production .
Migros Bio Cipolatta ** Pork , bacon ** , water , milk ** , ** rinds , iodized table salt , onions ** / * , spices * , antioxidant: sodium citrate , sugar * , Case : sheep casing . ** For Swiss organic production . * From certified organic production
Migros bio bratwurst and cipolatta
I found this page from a butcher in St Gallen explaining how the traditional bratwurst is produced. It seems to me that because these kind of sausages are pasteurised, they require much less preservatives and when sourced from a trusted brand/butcher are actually better than the “Raw/natural” looking ones.
5. One non-starch derived sugar, one antioxidant. Migros Rapelli Tessiner Salsiccia: Pork , bacon , beef , nitrite curing salt ( sodium chloride , preservative: E250) , flavorings , sugar , spices , antioxidant: ascorbic acid . Edible collagen casing
Migros Rapelli Tessiner Salsiccia
Rapelli seems to be a generally good brand in Migros – my favourite ham comes from Rapelli too. I will cover this in the third part.
Let me know which sausages you buy and like or what alternatives you prefer! What is your favourite meat/meat product to BBQ?
Any input on Cervelats? Hate them myself but my kids love them. And cervelats are a dog training miracle. But I’d be interested to know how bad they are.
Joan, here are the ingredients for naturafarm cervelas from coop: Pork 31 % , ice, beef 20 % , bacon , rinds , nitrite curing salt (table salt , preservatives [ E 250 ] ), potato starch, spices, flavors , yeast extract , spice extract, rapeseed oil, salt iodized. Sausage casing : bovine intestine. As you can see these contain yeast extract – which is equivalent to MSG; potato starch which has glycemic index of 95, but no other preservatives aside from nitrite. Other brands (Bell) don’t have MSG and starch, but have more preservatives and dextrose – its really up to you what you want to avoid. Bell Cervelas: Pork 46 % , bacon , ice , rinds , nitrite curing salt (table salt , preservatives [E 250] ) , acidifiers (E 262) , stabilizer (E450), dextrose , antioxidant (E300), seasoning, spices,iodized table salt, spice extracts . Case not suitable for consumption. I didnt cover E450 – its “Sodium and Potassium PolyPhosphate salts – High levels can upset the mineral balance” – but of course you would have to eat cervelas nonstop to get to the higher level. I would look for as close to organic as possible and with minimum of ingredients as for all other products.
Very interesting! Thank you. I look forward to reading more!